WORLD AUTO NEWS

The 2010 Toyota Prado

(19/09/2009) - The fourth generation Prado will be available in most part of the world by november this year as the 2010 model. Toyota chose to reveal this little brother of the Landcruiser at the Frankfurt show. The new Prado does appear more matured, looking more like a small Landcruiser, with the new aggressive looking front end-- new grille, new bumper and new light.

The new SUV is said to be 80mm longer, 10mm wider and 15mm lower than the previous generation. Toyota claimed that the new Prado has better aerodynamic, with drag coefficient reduced from 0.37 to 0.35. Besides that, Toyota spokesperson promised impressive Improvement in handling, stability and ride comfort.

Toyota said to have included more powerful yet more efficient newer engines on the new Prados. The UK market will only get the 171bhp 3.0 diesel engine, while other European and Asian markets can also get the 4.0 V6 Dual VVT-i, also a three-door version. The current 2.7 V6 will most likely be discontinued. Experts predicted Toyota's intention to upgrade the Prado in order to leave the lower end market for the Fortuner and RAV4 alike.

The suspension systems have been heavily revised with the top of the line Prados will get Adaptive Variable Suspension (AVS), which has excellent control over the body roll and lean, while enabling auto-levelling via switchable height control. Though It is estimated that only 10% of Prado owners will actually take the car off road, but Toyota will include the hard core CRAWL 4wd system (from big brother Landcruiser) on most of the Prado models. Let's wait till we hear the new price tags to make judgements, ok? But so far I would say that Toyota has done a pretty good job in upgrading the SUV.